Erica Courtney, internationally known jewelry designer to movie stars and the glitterati, is a lot of things. She is talented, tall and beautiful, with an artistic flair. She is a businesswoman who has turned her love of making jewelry into an international brand, creating pieces that can command up to $200,000 and have been worn by the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Julia Roberts.

What many do not know is that Courtney is also a Lafayette girl. She is a graduate of Lafayette High School, an LSU dropout and a convicted felon, accused of kidnapping her own son and hiding from the law for almost a decade (her record has since been expunged).

Erica Courtney is not her birth name. Growing up in the Hub City, she was known as Tasha Ingram, raised by wealthy parents. Her step-father, W.C. Lamb, owned Lamb Industries, an oil field service company. Her sister, Cézanne Nails, is the co-owner of Dockside Studios in Maurice.

(Photo: Erica Courtney)

Courtney’s wild ride from Louisiana girl to world-class jewelry designer is the stuff of movie legend, but few in Louisiana seem to know it.

It began, Courtney said, with her dropping out of LSU at age 19 to get married.

“I was there for about 13 seconds,” she quipped.

Courtney married a man she met on spring break in Florida. The couple had a son, Joshua, after about a year together. The marriage didn’t last much longer.

Lafayette police continued searching for her, calling her mother Helyn in for questioning to try to get her to divulge her daughter’s whereabouts. Courtney said the police were intent on catching her and provided yearly updates about the case.

Meanwhile, the FBI was also looking for her. Courtney had been charged with felony kidnapping, which can carry a penalty of up to 20 years in jail.

(Photo: Erica Courtney)

It was difficult, like James Bond stuff," Nails said. "I didn't want her to get caught because I knew she would lose her son. We all missed her, but we felt, at least we knew she was safe."

Courtney said while hiding out, she began gluing crystals onto her sunglasses.

During one of her mother’s visits, she wore the glasses out. A woman admired them, and Courtney sold them to her.

“So my mother said, 'You are a jewelry designer,' ” Courtney recalled. “I was like, ‘Mom, I’m not a designer.’ And she said, 'Yes you are. This is what you are going to do.' ”

Courtney started decorating sunglasses and watches, moving into designing silver and gold and eventually branching out into fine jewelry. All along, Courtney was doing it her way. In some circles, that meant not the right way.

(Photo: Kelly Briggs)

“I didn’t know you couldn’t do it that way," Courtney recalled. "People would say, 'You can’t do that. No one is going to buy your jewelry.' But I didn’t know. I was designing it as art. I started making these intricate designs and people told me, 'That’s not the way you do that.' But my thought was, 'Well, you’re not rich, what do you know?' ”

Kiki Frayard, owner of Kiki, a luxury goods and jewelry store in River Ranch, has called Courtney her friend for many years. She said the two met decades ago when Frayard fell in love with her work.

(Photo: Kris Wartelle)

“I met her when she was doing silver jewelry back in early '90s,” Frayard said. “She was just doing silver and some gold. And I loved her jewelry. In 2006, I said I love her line. I flew out and met her. And when I opened up the store and decided to carry some fine jewelry, I knew that’s who I wanted.”

Courtney said her business took off while she was living in Dallas. She became a successful, sought-after designer who sold her creations to stores all over the country. But it was when she moved to Los Angeles that her career really hit the stratosphere.

(Photo: Kelly Briggs)

“I had to leave Dallas,” the designer said. "The FBI was closing in and I was about to be arrested. But once I was in L.A., it was just a whole other dynamic. It was a different world. The costume (jewelry) world was changing. Everything was changing.”

At 35, Courtney’s career was flying high. But, it would soon come crashing down during a business trip to New York.

“We has been out to dinner and we were out late,” Courtney remembered. “There was this knocking on my hotel door and it was the FBI. They arrested me, handcuffed me and brought me to the FBI Office. They chained me to a chair. They were going to bring me into the New York City jail, but there wasn’t enough room.”

Back in Los Angeles, police picked up Courtney’s 13-year-old son and brought him to a juvenile detention center. Courtney was forced to return to Louisiana as Tasha Ingram and face charges. A plea deal was reached and when the ordeal was over, a judged sentenced her to 3 1/2 years probation. She now had a felony conviction on her record and Joshua was sent to live with his father.

Courtney said she learned later that one of her former employees had turned her in to the FBI.

“I had a bookkeeper who (I had to) fire," Courtney said. "She knew my story and called the FBI."

(Photo: Kris Wartelle)

Less than three years later, Joshua was reunited with his mother after the boy's father called Courtney's sister, Cezanne, and told her Courtney could have him back.

“I felt forced to do what I did, “ Courtney said looking back on the ordeal. “Otherwise, I wouldn't have done it. It was the loneliest existence on the face of the planet. It was really hard to come back to Louisiana because it was the cause of all my pain. I didn’t know what my ex would do. But I’ve gotten over it, and I love coming here now, to see family and eat oysters.”

Although Courtney is now a superstar in the jewelry world, Frayard said she is as down-to-earth and unaffected as she can be. Frayard said the amount of work Courtney puts into her designs sets her apart both personally and professionally.

(Photo: Kris Wartelle)

“There is something about the way she sets her stones,” Frayard observed. “I think a lot of designers have tried to copy her a little bit. But, when you see a piece of jewelry, you know it's Erica. Something about choices she makes. My customers collect her jewelry. They really love Erica. She’s funny and fun and very easy to talk to. She is so easy to deal with and so genuine."

Nails said she is not surprised her sister has done so well.

"She is fabulous at designing jewelry," Nails observed. "But she also knew what to do and how to do it. So there was nothing to get in her way."

These days it seems Courtney is living her dream life. She has fame, fortune and is thriving by following her passion. But, she admits, getting to that point was not easy.

(Photo: Kelly Briggs)

"I do have a wonderful life," she said. "But you have to make it wonderful. I could be bitter, but it's difficult to keep up with living in that bitter place. I choose not to. I choose to count my blessings."